Mumbai, Nov 25 Shiv Sena-UBT's Worli MLA Aditya U. Thackeray, the son of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, was on Monday elected the SS-UBT Legislative Party Leader, a top party leader said.
Similarly, Bhaskar B. Jadhav, a 7-time MLA from Guhagar, has been elected as the new SS-UBT Group Leader in the new Assembly, while Sunil W. Prabhu, a 3-time MLA from Dindoshi, will be the new Chief Whip.
Speaking to media persons, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve said that Thackeray Jr. will be the head of the party in both houses of the legislature.
Jadhav said that the party is keen for the post of Leader of Opposition though the MVA alliance has limited numbers in the House, but they will keep all options open.
The key appointments were made after a party meeting chaired by SS-UBT President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray at his home in the presence of all newly elected party MLAs and other organisational leaders.
Amid speculation that the SS-UBT MLAs could be "poached" as in the past, a grim Thackeray has indicated that the party will take affidavits from all the legislators to prevent any future defections, like the rebellion that toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Thackeray mid-way in its tenure in June 2022.
In the 288-member Legislative Assembly, the MVA allies which suffered a rout, managed to scrape through with a total of 48 seats, including the highest by SS-UBT (20), while the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar ended up with 16 and 10, respectively, while there is one MLA each of Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Peasants & Workers Party, and a couple of Independents are likely to support it.
Some leaders of the winning alliance of Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party have thrown a scare in the Opposition by claiming that certain MVA legislators are purportedly "in touch" with them, and the consequences will be visible in the near future.
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